Despite Claiming Otherwise, Ceres’ New Data Show Water Use from Fracking Declining
Tuesday October 18, 2016
A Boston-based green “investors” group called Ceres, which is backed by prominent anti-fossil fuel activist organizations, has recently published its latest attempt to portray fracking as a threat to water supplies.
But despite Ceres’ best efforts, not only does the water used for fracking still account for only a fraction of one percent of the total water used in the United States, it’s also significantly declining.
Ceres’ updated data builds off its 2014 report, “Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers,” (debunked here) that was an update to a previous version of the report from 2013 (debunked here). Here is what you need to know about their updated data:
#1. Water usage for fracking is in decline
Ceres states,
“A total of 358 billion gallons of water was used for hydraulic fracturing over the 5-year timeframe, equivalent to the annual water needs of 200 mid-sized cities.”
While it is clear that the intent of the update is to show that fracking is a threat to water supplies, a chart included in the release shows a steep decline in water usage since 2014.
